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(No ModeL) 3 Sheets-Shee5 1.

W. A. AYRES 8: H. P. RANGER. MECHANICAL STOKER.

No. 555,253. Patented Aug; 4, 1895 '(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. r

W. A. AYRES & H. P. RANGER.

' MECHANICAL STOKER Patented Augflfl, 1896.

Milan:

Mum mm PM ZUWQA. buncww (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet a.

WJA. AYRBS & H. P. RANGER. MECHANICAL $TOKER No. 565,253. Patented Aug.4, 1896.

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\Avvvvvvv yoawhk @MW My am o UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER ARTHUR AYRES AND HAROLD PELHAM RANGER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MECHANICAL STOKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,253, dated August4, 1896. Application filed J'anuary'1l,1896. Serial No. 575,174. (Nomodel.) Patented in England April 1, 1895, No. 6,683.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WVALTER ARTHUR AYREs, of Dace Road, Bow, London, inthe county of Middlesex, and HAROLD PELHAM RANGER, of 56 St. GeorgesRoad, Leyton, London, in the county of Essex, England, engineers,subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in and in Connection withMechanical Stokers for Furnaces, (for which we have obtained a patent inGreat Britain, No. 6,683, dated April 1, 1895,) of which the followingis a specification.

Our invention relates, first, to improvements in the construction andarrangement of mechanical stokers for furnaces and known ascoking-stokers, and, secondly, to improvements in the bars of suchfurnaces, the objects of our said invention being to so construct acoking'stoker and arrange the said furnace-bars as to effectually feedand spread the coal continuously and in regular quantities across thewhole width of the furnace, thus forming a bank or ridge of coal to becoked in the front of the furnace before be ing carried by movingfire-bars to the back of same, and we attain these objects by firstfeeding the coal into a suitable hopper or receiver, and through andfrom the said hopper the coal is fed by means of a series ofpropeller-shaped blades joined to and radiat ing from a sleeve orsleeves or collar or collars mounted upon a shaft or spindle, caused torotate intermittently at any desired speed, and by these the coal isthus propelled,through an aperture or opening in the furnace, onto aninclined guide-plate, and from this directly upon a perforateddead-plate below, and by this means the coal is equally distributedacross the front of the furnace, and by the before-mentioned movablefire-bars conveyed to the back end of same into the cokepit.

The improvements in furnace-bars forming part of our said inventionconsist in so constructing these that the parts most subjected to wearmay be renewable.

In order that our invention and the manner of its application andoperation may be fully and clearly understood, we have hereunto appendeda sheet of drawings, in which we have chosen to illustrate itsapplication to the right-hand furnace of a double-furnaced horizontalboiler.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of our improved mechanical stoker fixed inposition. Fig. 2 is a horizontal vertical section taken centrally, orthereabout, of Fig. 1, between one of the fixed bars and one of themovable bars according to our invention. Fig. 3 is a verticalcross-section of the furnace and fire-bars, taken centrally of thelength of the latter, or thereabout. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of theback end of the firebars, illustrating the manner in which we prefer toconstruct these with a removable and renewable portion at the part atwhich the greatest wear usually occurs, Figs. 5 and 6 being a plan andside elevation, respectively, of the said removable and renewableportion. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are enlarged top, front, and sideviews,respectively,of one of the said propeller-like blades and itsrectangular or polygonal sleeve or collar to which it is con nected.Figs. 10 and 10% are enlarged diagrams illustrating the method ofoperating the intermittent feed of the coal and the moving fire-bars, ashereinafter explained. Fig. 11 is an enlarged section of the lowersurface of the feeding-aperture, illustrating the manner in which weprefer to pivotally connect thereto the distributing guide-plate and themechanismemployed for raising the same for closing the said aperture, ashereinafter explained. Figs. 12 and 13 are enlarged and detached planand frontviews,respectively,of the said guide-plate. Fig. 1-1 is aplanviewof the fire-bars of the furnace, showing, partly in section, themechanism for operating such of these as are movable according to andfor the purposes of our invention.

We carry our invention into effect by casting or otherwise constructing,of sheet-iron or other suitable metal, a casing A, preferably of theshape shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower mouth of which, a, is passedthrough and fits an aperture in the furnace 13, just above the door 0,whereat the said casing is bolted or otherwise fixed, the upper mouth ofwhich is constructed to receive a hopper D, preferably shaped andprovided with a sloping mouth, as at Figs. 1 and 2. Through the saidcasing A passes a horizontal spindle or shaft E, preferably rectangularor polygonal in cross'section for so much of its length as is inclosedwithin A, and upon this portion is mounted a series of short sleeves orcollars I), each having attached thereto or formed integrally therewithand extending outwardly therefrom a propeller-like blade 0, (showndetailed by Figs. 7, 8, and 9,) the said sleeves or collars beingarranged in such a manner upon the said shaft E that the said bladesform a helix or spiral projection radiating therefrom; or in lieu of aseries of said sleeves h, each carrying a blade 0, we may employ onesuch sleeve of a length equal to the said series, from which the desirednumber of blades may project in like order.

The shaft or spindle E being carried in suitable bearings (which may ormay not be the ends of the casing A) has pivotally mounted upon one endthereof a pair of triple-eared plates, such as F, Fig. 1011-, the upperandlower ears of which,d and 01, respectively, are bolted together insuch a manner that a space exists bet-ween them, and in this space ismounted and keyed or otherwise fixed upon the shaft E a ratchet-toothedwheel, such as G, Fig. 109;, while a weighted pawl e is mounted upon thebolt connecting the lower ears (1 and engages with the teeth of G. Thethird pair of cars d of the plates F are at right angles or thcreaboutwith the ears d d and are bolted together in like manner, and upon thisbolt is pivotallyconnected the lower end of a ver tical rod H, the upperend of Which is connected to a short crank, cam, or eccentric upon apower-shaft, or to any other suitable motion by which an up-and-downvertical movement may be imparted thereto, an adjustable joint in theupper end of which said rod may, if necessary, be employed to govern theextent of such movement.

The fixed fire-bars J of the furnace are preferably borne at the frontor both ends upon a transverse bar or bars, plate or plates f, renderedadjustable vertically bya set-screw, such as g, Fig. 2, while themovable bars K are preferably recessed upon their under surfaces at fand f andwhen in their normal positions rest upon transverse bars orplates 7L and 7L, rendered adjustable vertically by set-screws, such asj, the said movable bars K extending at their front ends beyond thefixed bars J, whereat they are each provided with an aperture wt,preferably but not imperatively formed as shown in Fig. 2, but which mayvary according to the motion desired to be imparted to these bars, ashereinafter explained, but for the purposes of description we assumethatthey are soformed, and passing through these recesses is a cam shaft orspindle L, the bearing ends of which are journaled in suitable brackets,such as M M, and that extending through the latter has keyed orotherwise fixed thereon a-ratchetwheel G, and pivotally triple-earplates F, Fig. 10, the upper and lower ears of which,

n and n, are bolted together in the same manner as the plates F, beforedescribed, with the lower one a carrying a pawl a, Fig. 1, substantiallyas at Fig. 10. To the central or horizontal cars a of the plates F ispivotally connected the lower end of a rod 11, the upper end of which isconnected to the lower end of the rod H, before described, suchconnection between H and H being either by a link or by forming two eyesin the ears d of the plates F, the upper eyes of which may be connectedto the lower end of the rod H, while the lower eyes of same may beconnected to the upper end of the rod H, as suggested by d in Fig. 2,the object of this being that the vertical movements of H and H may beidentical and both receiving motion from the same source.

Referring again to the casing A and the views Figs. 11, 12, and 13, thelower surface of the mouth a of this has pivotally connected thereto aguide-plate N, upon the upper surface of which are radial ridges p, andthe said plate is arranged to be raised and lowered by a worm-wheel O,fixed upon one of its pivoted ends, engaging with a worm P, operated bya wheel or handle, such as r, and when the plate N is lowered, as shownby the full lines in Fig. 2, this and its ridges 1) serve to distributethe coal fed through a, which would be spread by this onto a perforatedplate B, Fig. 2, and from this onto the initial end of the fire-bars,but when (as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2) the plate N is raised thiscloses the mouth of a and prevents the coal in A from becomingignited bythe flames from the furnace.

Referring again to the fire-bars J and K, it is found in practice thatthese burn and wear out at their back ends more quickly than elsewhere,and to accommodate such wear we construct this end of these renewable byforming in that part of their upper surfaces a recess, such as s, Fig.4, and to occupy such recesses we provide portable pieces, such as t,Figs. and 6, which may be of chilled iron or steel, which are retainedin position by forming the ends of these V-shaped, as shown by the planview, Fig. 5, and by providing likeshaped apertures in the fire-bars ateach end of the recesses s, with which the ends of t engage, as shown inFig. 14, and, further, by suitable pins or dowels upon 25, which engagewith like holes in the fire-bars.

The manner of operation is as follows: The coal being deposited in thehopper D, and intermittent motion imparted to the rods H and H, theformer of these rods, by oscillating the plates F, would, by the pawl c,impart an intermittent rotary motion to the ratchet G, and consequentlythe shaft E and the propeller-like blades 0 thereon, in the direction ofthe upper arrow, Fig. 2, the said blades regularly and evenly breakingthecoal and pushing it through the open mouth of a onto the guide-plateN, and by reason of the convex formation (of this and the ridges 1)thereon the coal would slide from this and be deposited evenly and inall directions onto the plate R, and from this onto the front or initialend of the fire-bars J and K. The intermittent vertical motion of therod H would impart a like motion to the rod H, and this by oscillatingthe plates F would, by the agency of their pawl e, impart anintermittent rotary motion to the ratchet-wheel G,and consequently thecam-shaft L, in the direction of the lower arrow, Fig. 2, and this inits course of rotation would by colliding with the upper portion of theaperture 0% first raise the front end of all the bars K above the fixedbars J, and continuing on would push the same bars backward in thedirection of the arrow X, Fig. 2, and as the wider portion of theseadjacent to the recess f rose upon the bar or plate It the back ends ofthe bars K would be also raised, and by the return motion of the cam Lthe said bars K would be again returned to their normal position, asshown in Fig. 2. By this means the whole of the alternate bars K arecaused to first rise above the fixed bars J and then travel horizontallybetween them, lower and return to their original position once to everyrevolution of the cam-shaft L, the adj ustment of the screws h h servingto regulate the distance that the bars K may in their return motion fallbelow the level of the fixed bars J, and by this continued horizontalmotion of the bars K the fuel would be gradually carried from the frontto the back end of the bars in short and regular stages, the rise andfall of these above and below the bars J serving to break up theclinkers, clear The combination may be varied as desired the air-spaces,and effect perfect combustion of the fuel, ultimately depositing theexhausted portion of the fuel into the ash or clinker pit at the end ofthe bars in the usual way.

WVe may find it convenient or desirable that certain of the bars K mayhave a motion differing from or to a greater or lesser extent than theothers, and it is obvious that this may be easily effected by alteringthe shape, length, or height of the apertures m in such bars.

The method of and means for raising the guide-plate N for closing themouth a will be fully understood and the necessity for doing so fullyconceived by all person conversant with stokin g without furtherexplanations.

We may find it desirable to provide more than one recess, such as s, inthe upper surface of the fire-bars for the reception of renewableportions, such as t, an example of which is shown by t in Fig. 2, and itis obvious that the same method of providing renewable portions isapplicable to the fire-bars of all furnaces whether the said fire-barsbe fixed or otherwise.

Having now particularly described oursaid invention, we declare thatwhat we claim is 1. In combination with a furnace, the cas ing having ahorizontally-extending mouth projecting into the furnace, the ribbeddistributing-plate hinged to the bottom of said casing, means forraising and lowering said plate, a spiral feeder horizontally arrangedin said casing with means for imparting a step-by-step rotation thereto,and a hopper mounted above said casing, substantially as described.

2. In an improved mechanical stoker for furnaces, the combination of acasing such as A, carrying a hopper or receiver such as D, and having amouth such as a entering the furnace B, and carrying a guide-plate suchas N, arranged for closing the mouth of a by suitable gearing such as O,P, r, the shaft E carrying propeller-like blades such as 0, arranged inhelical form, and the means for imparting intermittent motion to suchshaft by a ratchet-wheel such as G, operated by a pawl such as e carriedupon a double plate such as F mounted upon E, and caused to oscillate bythe means of a rod H receiving intermittent motion from a cam, crank,eccentric or the like, operated by a power-shaft, substantially as andfor the purposes herein described and shown by the appended drawings.

3. In combination with the mechanical stoker a cam-shaft such as L,intermittently rotated by a ratchet-wheel such as G, operated by a pawlsuch as 6 upon a double plate such as F, caused to oscillate by themeans of a rod H, connected by a link or otherwise to and receivingmotion from the rod H, the movable fire-bars K arranged alternately withfixed bars J and having apertures such as m operated by the cam-shaftLand mounted upon adjustable bars h h, the said bars K and J havingremovable and renewable portions such as 25, substantially as and forthe purposes herein described and shown by the appended drawings.

4. A grate-bar for boiler-furnaces having a cut-away portion terminatingin inclined walls combined with a removable reinforcingpiece havingbeveled ends corresponding to said inclines and having a pin projectingfrom its bottom face and entering a recess in the grate-bar,substantially as described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twowitnesses.

WVALTER ARTHUR AYRES. HAROLD PELHAM RANGER. Witnesses:

GEORGE THOMAS HYDE, SAMUEL JOHN EARL.

